Systems and methods for managing consumer transaction-based investments

ABSTRACT

The field of the invention relates to systems and methods for controlling investment funds, and more particularly to systems and methods for real-time projections based on consumer transactions. In one embodiment, an investment fund management system may include a consumer communication device configured to create a payment gateway with a Point of Sales (POS) terminal. The system further includes a portfolio server accessible over a data network. The consumer communication device is configured to execute a process including the steps of intercepting a transaction through the payment gateway; computing an expected return based on the investment of a transaction amount from said transaction; and providing the expected return to the consumer communication device.

This application is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No.13/366,499 entitled “Systems and Methods for Managing ConsumerTransaction-Based Investments” and filed on Feb. 6, 2012, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention relates to systems and methods forcontrolling investment funds, and more particularly to systems andmethods for real-time investment data projections based on traditionalconsumer transactions, such as through Near Field Communications (NFC).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A variety of financial investment programs exist to facilitateprotecting consumer assets. Among these programs, long-term investmentplans allow consumers/employees to save for their future/retirementwithin an expected period of time.

For example, a pension plan is an income arrangement that providesconsumers deferred compensation following retirement. Pension planstypically are employment-based and may be classified as definedbenefits, defined contributions, or a combination of both. Definedbenefit plans involve the promise of an employer for a specific payoutat retirement based on the employee's salary and length of membership inthe plan (e.g., Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and 401(k) planswhere pre-defined investments are allocated from the employee's income).Similarly, with defined contribution plans, employers and/or employeescontribute funds during employment; however, the payout at retirement isbased on the performance of the investment and the amount ofcompensation is uncertain. Hybrid plan designs combine features ofdefined benefits as well as defined contributions (e.g., cash balanceplans).

When used correctly, these programs not only promote economic growth butalso personal financial safety. Investing resources provides fixedcapital (e.g., land, buildings, equipment) for the economy and potentialgain for the investor. The most effective long-term investments bear lowrisks and offer high profits. These investments minimize the effect ofmarket fluctuations and other risks to maximize the expected return.

As those of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate, methods forreducing investment risk include, but are not limited to,diversification and hedging. Investing in a variety of assets todiversify investments creates less risk than the weighted average riskof its constituent assets. Modern portfolio theory (MPT) mathematicallyformulates the concept of diversification in investing to reduce thetotal variance of a portfolio return. Alternatively, hedging involvesinvestments in one market to offset and balance potential losses/risksincurred by assuming an opposing position. Methods for risk-averseinvestments are well understood and appreciated.

Unfortunately, despite the potential reward of investing andrisk-aversion techniques, many employees fail to establish any long-terminvestment plan at all. In some cases, these investment programs are notalways available to a large portion of the population. Even whereavailable, many employees/consumers lack the motivation to invest over along period of time because it is difficult to visualize a high-expectedreturn without sufficient investment expertise. Accordingly,transactions costs (e.g., fees, commission, and so on) are high andemployees/consumers often are unwilling to accept the risk of investmentfor an unknown reward.

Related to investment programs, some employees/consumers choose savingsto preserve their income. Savings are defined as income not spent (i.e.,deferred consumption) such as, for example, money put aside in a bank.This also includes reducing expenses. Savings are relatively accessibleto a larger group of users than most investments. A deposit accountpaying interest is often used to hold money for future needs. Typically,conventional saving methods earn low, fixed rates and presentcorrespondingly lower risks than investments. It is possible to investresources not spent as previously discussed; however, increased savingdoes not always correspond to increased investment. Nevertheless,consumers must still rely on self-discipline to save.

One method for encouraging financial asset protection influences usersduring the consumer transaction process. For example, a current approachallows consumers to save and/or donate a portion of a credit or debittransaction. An example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,191, toBurke, filed Apr. 27, 1995, for a “Method and System to Create andDistribute Excess Funds from Consumer Spending Transactions,” which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The system rounds upany credit or debit transaction to the nearest dollar and allows theconsumer to save the difference between the actual transaction price andthe rounded amount in a surplus account. This approach creates excessfunds from spending transactions and provides an immediate opportunityto set aside these assets at the point of sale, thereby reducingtransaction costs to save.

Although these systems are effective for creating opportunities to deferassets, the consumer still must actively choose to allocate the excessfunds into a surplus account. Furthermore, current approaches only setaside the excess funds for future consumption (i.e., saved) rather thaninvesting in hopes of realizing higher long-term returns. As discussedabove, saving specifies a lower-risk preservation of money with agenerally lower return than investments (e.g., a savings accountoffering a 3 percent interest rate may only grow at 1 percent annuallybased on a 2 percent inflation rate). In return for a commitment toplace an investment for a fixed period of time, long-term investmentscan offer a higher yield to encourage consumers to protect their assets.Compared to shorter-term savings or investments that may respond quicklyto market fluctuations, investing a portion of savings over thelong-term can return enough to outpace inflation. These lower rates areoften insufficient to motivate an experienced consumer to activelyallocate excess funds into a surplus account.

Current systems assume consumers possess adequate financial knowledge torealize the expected return from preserving assets. However, aninexperienced investor may not visualize an immediate benefit of saving.Techniques that allow a consumer to save excess funds during a consumertransaction rarely provides the consumer with potential investmentbenefits in real-time. Without immediate knowledge, the opportunity tosave may not overcome a pre-conceived reluctance to defer consumerfinance. A lack of motivation to reduce consumption continues to determany users from protecting their assets, even prior to consideringinvestment options. Accordingly, an improved system and method forcreating a nexus between savings/investments and consumer transactionsthrough real-time investment projections is desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention relates to systems and methods forcontrolling investment funds, and more particularly to systems andmethods for real-time projections based on traditional consumertransactions. In one embodiment, an investment fund management systemmay include a Point of Sales (POS) terminal for consumer transactions.The system further includes a consumer communication device configuredto create an electronic payment gateway with the POS terminal during aconsumer transaction. The system also includes a portfolio server towhich the consumer communication device connects over a data network.The consumer communication device is operatively coupled to a computerprogram product, the computer program product having a computer-usablemedium including a sequence of instructions which, when executed by aprocessor, causes said processor to execute a process that createsinvestment projections based on a transaction between the POS terminaland consumer communication device.

The process includes the steps of intercepting a transaction having afirst numerical amount to be transferred through the payment gateway;determining a second transaction amount in excess of the first numericalamount; determining a third transaction amount, wherein the thirdtransaction amount is the difference between the first and secondamount; computing an expected return, wherein the return is based on theinvestment of the third transaction amount; electronically publishingthe expected return to the consumer communication device. In analternative embodiment, the process further includes the step oftransferring the third transaction amount to the portfolio server oversaid data network.

Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will beor will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination ofthe following figures and detailed description. It is intended that allsuch additional systems, methods, features and advantages be includedwithin this description, be within the scope of the invention, and beprotected by the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to better appreciate how the above-recited and other advantagesand objects of the inventions are obtained, a more particulardescription of the embodiments briefly described above will be renderedby reference to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated inthe accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the components in thefigures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed uponillustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures,like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout thedifferent views. However, like parts do not always have like referencenumerals. Moreover, all illustrations are intended to convey concepts,where relative sizes, shapes and other detailed attributes may beillustrated schematically rather than literally or precisely.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network environment in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a published computationdelivered to a consumer device.

FIG. 4 is another flowchart of a process in accordance with analternative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5a is another flowchart of a process in accordance with analternative embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5b is another schematic block diagram of a network environmentexecuting a process in accordance with an alternative embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 6 is another flowchart of a process in accordance with analternative embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As described above, effectively protecting consumer assets typicallyinvolves an appreciation of the risks/rewards associated withestablishing investments. Turning to FIG. 1, an exemplary system 100that pushes real-time investment data to a user during consumertransactions is further illustrated in block-diagram form. The system100 includes a merchant server 104A communicatively linked—such asthrough a Wide Area Network (WAN)—to a transaction gateway server 104D.It should also be understood that merchant server 104A and transactiongateway server 104D could reside on the same computing device or ondifferent computing devices. The merchant server 104A further includes acontroller 104B monitoring a point of sale (POS) input terminal 104C.POS terminal 104C is configured to support both contactless (e.g.,radio) and direct (e.g., electrical conduction) transactions/dataexchange including, for example, near field communication (NFC) devicereaders, credit/debit card readers, smart card readers, radio frequencyidentification (RFID) tag readers, and so on.

During a typical consumer transaction, merchants exchange goods orservices for payment from a consumer. Online account-based systems—suchas those available from PayPal and Google—allow consumers to securelytransfer electronic payments from numerous financial accounts. In oneembodiment, consumers 105 transmit electronic payment information usingconsumer devices 105A, 105B, and 105N, each having a processor andstorage medium (not shown). Devices 105A, 105B, and 105N are preferablyportable communication devices supporting NFC transmission. Examplesinclude mobile phones, laptop computers, personal digital assistants(PDA), and portable multimedia players. However, devices 105A, 105B, and105N also include laptops, desktops, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, programmable consumer electronics,telephony systems, distributed computing environments, set top boxes,and so on. Devices 105A, 105B, and 105N may further include a userinterface console, such as a touch screen monitor (not shown), to allowthe user/consumer to preset various system parameters. User definedsystem parameters may include, but are not limited to, investmentmetrics, payment information, investment variables, and externalapplication accessibility.

Consumers 105 touch, or bring into close proximity (e.g., usually a fewcentimeters), their consumer device to POS terminal 104C to makepurchases. This triggers an NFC communication with an application in theconsumer device through an NFC antenna, represented as dotted lines inFIG. 1. Controller 104B receives the input from the POS terminal 104Band transmits the payment information to transaction gateway server104D, thereby creating an electronic payment gateway. As those ofordinary skill in the art would appreciate, payment gateways areapplication service providers to process and authorize the paymentinformation.

In an alternative embodiment, payment information can be similarlytransmitted over data network 101 through respective networkconnections, represented as solid lines in FIG. 1. These networkconnections are wired or wireless and are implemented using any knownprotocol. Similarly, data network 105 may be any one of a global datanetwork (e.g., the Internet), a regional data network, or a local areanetwork. The network 105 may use common high-level protocols, such asTCP/IP and may comprise multiple networks of differing protocolsconnected through appropriate gateways. Payment gateways are createdupon transmission of payment information from consumer devices 105A,105B, and 105N to merchant server 104A over data network 101, forexample, via the Internet.

System 100 further includes an Index Fund Server 102 controlling accessto a portfolio database 103. Portfolio database 103 stores electronicfiles representing financial investment fund account information ofconsumers 105, including both individual and collective investmentfunds. In one embodiment, portfolio database 103 represents a collectiveinvestment scheme, such as storing various index funds. As an example ofa collective investment scheme, Index Funds Advisors (IFA) offer 100Index Portfolios, which are individualized and indexed funds toreplicate the movement of an index of a specific financial market.Alternatively, portfolio database 103 may represent other investmentschemes, such as, social conscious funds, exchange-traded funds (ETF),mutual funds, fund of funds (FOF), pre-constructed portfolios, and soon. User input from consumers 105 may also specify a particular schemefor storage. The information from database 103 can be accessed over datanetwork 101 through similar network connections discussed above. As oneof ordinary skill in the art would appreciate, portfolio database 103may be any type of storage device or storage medium such as hard disks,cloud storage, CD-ROMs, flash memory, DRAM and may also include acollection of devices (e.g., Redundant Array of Independent Disks(“RAID”)). Similarly, it should be understood that Index Fund Server 102and portfolio database 103 could reside on the same computing device oron different computing devices.

As previously mentioned, for consumer transaction systems 100 that allowconsumers 105 to save and/or donate a portion of a credit or debittransaction, consumers 105 are given an option to submit a payment inexcess of the amount required from merchant server 104A. Additionalfunds are then transferred to a surplus account. An immediateopportunity to set aside current funds is provided without actionableknowledge regarding the application of the excess funds. As a result,consumers 105 may not have an effective gauge of the potential earnedvalue from investing excess funds. Therefore, the immediate opportunityto save during consumer transactions is often declined and cannegatively affect retirement goals.

One approach to address this issue is illustrated in FIG. 2, whichillustrates a process 2000 that may be executed within consumer devices105A, 105B, and 105N. Process 2000 may consist of various programmodules including routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, and so on that perform particular tasks or implementparticular abstract data types. In a distributed computing environment,these modules are located in both local and remote storage devicesincluding memory storage devices.

When consumers 105 make a payment/transaction from their NFC-enableddevice (e.g., 105A, 105B, and 105N), as described above, an electronicpayment gateway facilitates the transfer of information between theconsumer device 105A, 105B, and 105N and the merchant server 104A.Process 2000 monitors any transaction done through an approved gateway(starting block 2010) and intercepts the transmitted information (actionblock 2020). In one embodiment, consumers 105 authorize process 2000 tointercept payment information from consumer device 105A, 105B, and 105Nin real-time, prior to transmission. However, process 2000 may alsoperiodically poll transaction gateway server 104D for recent paymenttransactions. Client/server-based polling in network computingenvironments is well understood and appreciated.

Once the payment information is intercepted, process 2000 determines theamount of payment that is to be transferred from a consumer accountusing consumer device 105A, 105B, or 105N. This payment amount is thenrounded-up to the next dollar amount (action block 2030). For example, aconsumer purchase of $10.20 will be rounded-up to $11.00. Subsequently,the difference between the actual payment price and the rounded price(e.g., $0.80 using the previous example) is eligible for electronictransfer into an investment fund.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, prior to providing the consumer with an optionto set aside this difference amount, action block 2040 immediatelycomputes a projected return of a long-term investment of the differenceamount (e.g., a 50-year investment). In one embodiment, this computationis based on the historical performance of portfolios designed accordingto Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT). For example, the predicted return mayreflect the relative return of similar investments based on compositestock market indices of like companies/sectors (e.g., indices forcompanies of a certain size, management, and so on). However, meanreversion or the standard deviation on the rate of return of similarinvestments may also be used to measure the volatility of theinvestment. Consumers 105 may also select related Return on Investment(ROI) metrics to compute a projected return.

After a projected return is obtained, this information is immediatelypublished to consumer device 105A, 105B, or 105N, e.g., using serverpush or comparable publish/subscribe-based data network communication(action block 2050). With reference to FIG. 3, a sample screenshotpublication 300 is illustrated in block diagram form. The instantcomputed value obtained in action block 2040 is displayed as a possibleearned value 301. In this example, earned value 301 is a projected valueof the investment 302 (i.e., a 50-year investment of $10.00). Socialnetworking options 304 allow consumers 105 to publish their earned value301 on one or more social media platforms (e.g., Facebook®, Twitter®,LinkedIn®, MySpace®). Providing earned value 301 involves consumers 105in the application of their possible savings Through projected effectsof investment, consumers 105 have an immediate gauge of personal savingsgoals to make speedy, and educated, decisions for allocating assetsduring a consumer transaction.

Turning back to FIG. 2, educated consumers 105 subsequently have theoption to alter the amount to invest (decision block 2060). If aconsumer customizes their investment to meet their specific financialgoals (i.e., increase or decrease the difference between the transactionprice and the rounded-up value), the investment value 302 is modifiedfor transfer (action block 2070). As illustrated in FIG. 3, investment302 is configured to receive consumer 105 input. Earned value 301 isdynamically updated to reflect the manual entry to investment 302(return to action block 2040).

If the consumer 105 accepts—for example, clicking submit box 303 in FIG.3, the funds indicated in investment 302 are transferred to an indexfund (action block 2080). Specifically, consumer device 105A, 105B, or105N transfers payment information to Index Fund Server 102 over datanetwork 101. The electronic funds are updated in the consumersrespective account maintained in portfolio database 103. Accordingly,process 2000 provides the advantages of reducing transactions costs forinvesting a few cents a time and providing the expected future value ofthe investment, all during a payment/transaction from a consumer device.Process 2000 returns to action block 2010 to monitor and intercept thenext consumer transaction.

Turning to FIG. 4, another process 4000 that pushes real-time investmentdata to a user during consumer transactions is further illustrated inblock-diagram form. Like with process 2000, process 4000 monitors anytransaction done through an approved gateway (starting block 4010) andintercepts the transmitted information (action block 4020). The amountof payment that is to be transferred from consumer device 105A, 105B, or105N is rounded-up to the next dollar amount (action block 4030). Thedifference between the actual payment price and the rounded amount iseligible for electronic transfer into an investment fund. Prior toproviding consumers with an option to set aside this amount, process4000 immediately computes a projected return of a long-term investmentof the difference amount (e.g., a 50-year investment) (action block4040), as discussed in process 2000.

This projection is immediately delivered to consumer device 105A, 105B,or 105N, e.g., using server push or comparable publish/subscribe-baseddata network communication (action block 4050). With this information,consumers 105 have the option to alter the amount to invest (decisionblock 4060). If a consumer chooses to customize their investment (i.e.,increase or decrease the difference between the transaction price andthe rounded-up value), the investment value is modified for transfer(action block 4070), and process 4000 computes an updated investmentprojection to reflect the manual entry (return to action block 4040).

Once the consumer 105 approves the investment of their assets, process4000 determines whether sufficient funds are present before aninvestment is made (decision block 4080). If sufficient funds are notpresent, process 4000 delays any transfer of funds and electronicallystores the amount, such as within consumer devices 105A, 105B, or 105N,until an aggregate amount is sufficient for investment (action block4090). By pooling together investors' funds, certain investments—forexample, investments requiring a minimum dollar amount—for greaterreturns can be made. Aggregating funds to minimize the number ofinvestment purchases also reduces transaction costs. Once a sufficientamount is present for transfer—including previously held funds, consumerdevice 105A, 105B, and 105N transfers a single bulk payment to IndexFund Server 102 for storage in database 103 over data network 101(action block 4100). Process 4000 returns to action block 4010 tomonitor and intercept the next consumer transaction over data network101. Accordingly, process 4000 provides the advantage of furtherreducing transaction costs for greater returns.

Turning to FIG. 5a , another process 5000 that pushes real-timeinvestment data to a user during consumer transactions is furtherillustrated in block-diagram form. This process is based on networksystem 500 having consumer devices 505 without NFC antennas, as shown inFIG. 5b . In system 500, a computation server 510 is connected to datanetwork 101 through respective network connections as previouslydiscussed. Computation server 510 preferably includes a web-basedoperating system and a processor (not shown) for hosting web pages andexecuting web-based applications, such as process 5000. Transactiongateway server 104D further includes an application program interface(“API”) having a set of components, routines, protocols and tools forcommunicating with various applications (e.g., process 2000 and 5000).The API includes specifications for routines, data structures, objectclasses, and variables. Such interfaces are generally well known.

Turning back to FIG. 5a , computation server 510 monitors existingpayment gateways (e.g., from online account-based systems discussedabove) through the API of gateway server 104D (start block 5010). Once aconnection is established, computation server 510 proceeds to monitorconsumer transactions through payment gateways over data network 101,similar to process 2000 (delay block 5020). When consumers 505 make apayment/transaction from their consumer device (e.g., 505A, 505B, and505N), computation server 510 intercepts the transmitted information, asdescribed above (action block 5030). The amount of payment that is to betransferred over data network 101 is rounded-up to the next dollaramount (action block 5040), where the difference between the actualpayment price and the rounded amount is eligible for electronic transferinto an investment fund. Prior to providing consumers with an option toset aside this amount, computation server 510 immediately computes aprojected return of a long-term investment of the difference amount(e.g., a 50-year investment), as discussed in process 2000 (action block5050).

This projection is immediately delivered to consumer device 505A, 505B,or 505N, e.g., using server push or comparable publish/subscribe-baseddata network communication, over data network 101 (action block 5060).With this information, consumers 505 have the option to alter the amountto invest (decision block 5070). If a consumer chooses to customizetheir investment (i.e., increase or decrease the difference between thetransaction price and the rounded-up value), the investment value ismodified for transfer (action block 5080), and computation server 510computes an updated investment projection to reflect the manual entry(return to action block 5050). Once the consumer 505 approves theinvestment of their assets, consumer device 505A, 505B, or 505Ntransfers payment information to Index Fund Server 102 for storage indatabase 103 over data network 101 (action block 5090). However, similarto process 4000, payment information may also be delayed untilsufficient funds are reached (not shown). Process 5000 returns to actionblock 5020 to monitor and intercept the next consumer transaction overdata network 101.

In yet another alternative embodiment, FIG. 6 illustrates anotherprocess 6000 for converting consumer assets for future spending. Theprevious embodiments are based on consumer transactions using tangiblefunds (i.e., cash and electronic funds). However, other accounts andassets may be used. For example, rewards points allow companies toreward customers for various purchases. Points are awarded to a customerthat can be accumulated and later redeemed for merchandise, cash, and/orservices. During a consumer transaction, consumers redeem rewardspoints, instead of cash, for goods or services from merchants. Onlineaccount-based systems—such as those available from www.points.com orother major credit card companies—allow consumers to securely transferreward points from numerous financial accounts just like cash. In oneembodiment, consumers 505 transfer points, electronically, usingconsumer devices 505A, 505B, and 505N. While consumers 105 can similarlytransfer reward points over data network 105 or through NFC in system100, system 500 is used in this example for illustration purposes only.Accordingly, gateway server 104D is configured to receive and authorizereward-type payments.

Turning back to FIG. 6, like with process 5000, process 6000 monitorsexisting payment gateways (e.g., from online account-based systemsdiscussed above) through the API of gateway server 104D (start block6010). This allows consumers 505 to examine transactions from theirrewards-based accounts. Once a connection is established, process 6000proceeds to monitor consumer transactions through payment gateways overdata network 101, similar to process 5000 (delay block 6020). Whenconsumers 505 submit earned reward information from their consumerdevice (e.g., 505A, 505B, and 505N), process 6000 intercepts thetransmitted information in real-time (action block 6030). The amount ofrewards that is to be transferred over data network 101 is converted tothe corresponding dollar amount and rounded-up, where the difference inrewards points between the actual payment price and the rounded amountis eligible for investment, as described above (action block 6040).Process 6000 immediately computes a projected return of a long-terminvestment if these reward points were converted to cash and invested(e.g., a 50-year investment), as discussed in process 2000 (action block6050).

This projection is immediately delivered to consumer device 505A, 505B,or 505N, e.g., using server push or comparable publish/subscribe-baseddata network communication, over data network 101 (action block 6060).With this information, consumers 505 have the option to alter the amountof earned points to convert and invest (decision block 6070). If aconsumer chooses to customize their investment, the number of points ismodified for transfer (action block 6080), and process 6000 computes anupdated investment projection to reflect the manual entry (return toaction block 6050). Once the consumer 505 approves the conversion andinvestment of their rewards points, consumer device 505A, 505B, or 505Ntransfers the rewards information to Index Fund Server 102 for storagein database 103 over data network 101 (action block 6090). However,similar to process 4000, payment information may also be delayed untilsufficient funds are reached (not shown). Process 6000 then returns toaction block 6020 to monitor and intercept the next consumer transactionover data network 101.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evidentthat various modifications and changes may be made thereto withoutdeparting from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. Forexample, the reader is to understand that the specific ordering andcombination of process actions described herein is merely illustrative,and the invention may appropriately be performed using different oradditional process actions, or a different combination or ordering ofprocess actions. For example, this invention is particularly suited forcomputations based on traditional consumer transaction, such asonline-based commerce; however, the invention can be used forprojections in various financial systems. Additionally and obviously,features may be added or subtracted as desired. Accordingly, theinvention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claimsand their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An investment fund management system comprising:a computation server configured to monitor transaction data transmittedbetween a payment gateway server and a consumer communication device,the consumer communication device configured to create, during aconsumer transaction, an electronic payment gateway with a POS terminalin electronic communication with the payment gateway server, thecomputation server is operatively coupled to a computer program product,the computer program product having a computer-usable medium having asequence of instructions which, when executed by a processor of thecomputation server, causes the processor to execute a process thatcreates investment projections based on a transaction between the POSterminal and the consumer communication device, the process comprising:intercepting a transaction through the electronic payment gateway, thetransaction having a first numerical amount to be transferred;determining a second transaction amount in excess of the first numericalamount; determining a third transaction amount, wherein the thirdtransaction amount is the difference between the first and secondtransaction amount; computing an expected return, wherein the return isbased on the investment of the third transaction amount; andelectronically publishing the expected return to the consumercommunication device.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processfurther includes the step of electronically transferring the thirdtransaction amount to a portfolio server over said data network.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the process further includes the step ofaggregating said third transaction amount with additional electronicfunds prior to transferring said third transaction amount.
 4. The systemof claim 1, wherein the consumer communication device further includes aNear Field Communication (NFC) interface.
 5. The system of claim 4,wherein the POS terminal further includes a Near Field Communication(NFC) interface configured to support electronic NFC payment gateways.6. The system of claim 1, wherein the second transaction amount isdetermined from rounding up the first numerical amount to the next wholedollar amount.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the process furtherincludes the step of publishing the expected return to a social mediaplatform.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein computing an expected returnfrom investing the third transaction reflects the historical performanceof similar investments designed according to Modern Portfolio Theory(MPT).
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein user input modifies the thirdtransaction amount.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein portfolio serverrepresents a collective investment scheme.
 11. The system of claim 1,wherein the first transaction amount comprises a corresponding dollaramount of earned rewards points.
 12. A method of creating investmentprojections based on a consumer transaction monitored at a computationserver between a Point of Sales (POS) terminal, in electroniccommunication with a payment gateway server, and a consumercommunication device, configured to create an electronic payment gatewaywith the POS terminal, the method comprising: intercepting, by thecomputation server, the consumer transaction through the electronicpayment gateway, the transaction having a first numerical amount to betransferred; determining, by the computation server, a secondtransaction amount in excess of the first numerical amount; determining,by the computation server, a third transaction amount, wherein the thirdtransaction amount is the difference between the first and secondtransaction amount; computing, by the computation server, an expectedreturn, wherein the return is based on the investment of the thirdtransaction amount; and electronically publishing the expected return tothe consumer communication device.
 13. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising electronically transferring said third transaction amount toa portfolio server accessible to the consumer communication device overa data network.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprisingaggregating said third transaction amount with additional electronicfunds prior to transferring said third transaction amount.
 15. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the second transaction amount is determinedfrom rounding up the first numerical amount to the next whole dollaramount.
 16. The method of claim 12, wherein computing an expected returnfrom investing the third transaction reflects the historical performanceof similar investments designed according to Modern Portfolio Theory(MPT).
 17. The method of claim 12, further comprising publishing theexpected return to a social media platform.
 18. The method of claim 12,wherein user input modifies the third transaction amount.
 19. The methodof claim 12, wherein the first transaction amount comprises acorresponding dollar amount of earned rewards points.